Does it really do any harm??

[fruitandbarley]

Holidays in school time. I'm 40, my parents took me out of school for a week once a year to go on holiday.
I've done ok for myself, don't believe it's affected me in any way.
So AIBU to ask if it's really such a big deal. ( So long as it's not a silly amount of time).
Disclaimer:- I've had wine, any spelling mistakes are due to that and not a week camping in Cornwall when I was 8).

I had two days off school to go to Paris as an 8 year old but at that time my primary school encouraged trips abroad as a learning experience and gave us diaries to make a sort of report on what we'd experienced.

From the age of 5 I also missed between 6 and 10 weeks of school a year due to an illness.

I did well at school, have an MA and am currently applying to do my PhD. So education wise I don't think it affected me at all.

DDs school are also pretty good at allowing holiday during term time but won't allow repeated time off for the same children. I think that's a good balance.

I have 2DC in primary (Reception and Year 3) we have never been on holiday, ever. We are a low income family. I have seen people on here say 'holidays are a luxury not a right' these people can usually afford to go in half term, and I used to think the same, but I've had enough, we will be going away next year.

*wouldnt dream....

That's a really good point pleasedon'teatchalk.

I get so annoyed particularly about that man who sued the government or something to get a ruling about his "rights" to take his DCs away during the term time.

We are hugely fortunate to have a free education system in this country and whilst the government might have been a bit draconian about how they went about it, their main aim of restricting term time holidays/time off is to ensure that every child gets a decent education.

Interestingly in DS's private school, very few DCs if any take term time holidays. I guess we can afford holidays which is a fair point, but also I think because we pay for the education it is more valued.

I don't like the "it's ok in primary school" argument either. In primary school it is when a lot of the foundations for later learning are set.

"But that would be fine, because missing two weeks of school isn't a big deal, right?"

You do understand the teacher is employed to teach and the parents of those children, and all tax payers pay the teachers salary?

So childten/parents/customers should not be forced into a two week break from school. But a choice to take kids out for one or two weeks from a service you are paying for is not the same as being denied that service.

Interestingly in DS's private school, very few DCs if any take term time holidays. I guess we can afford holidays which is a fair point, but also I think because we pay for the education it is more valued.

Private schools get longer holidays. If you go on holiday before the State schools have finished then you get cheaper holidays.

Sirzy when my kids started school in year 4 a teacher told me she felt like her career had been a waste of time as within weeks my kids were on top table. It made her question the whole idea of kids being in school at 4, 5 and 6.

Education on this country is provided free! We are all paying for it.

The previous poster about to do her pDh proves it is ridiculous to assume timeboit equates to falling behind. Any more than month after tedious month equates to doing well.

School engages some and massively fails others, address that fully and maybe schools would have a right to moan about a lost week here or there!

Time out not tineboit

Bloody annoying for the teacher. They have to spend extra time making sure your precious child catches up. Of course a week of lost work is important. If they're primary, that could be the first full week of a literacy topic so all the input needed for the big write the following week (for e.g.). Child comes back following week and produces crap piece of work, which teacher knows isn't reflective of their ability but needs to produce evidence of your child's work in order to justify the ability level child is being given. So teacher has to spend extra time with said pupil. Of course, parent cares not one bit about this. (primary is just colouring in, isn't it?)

Teachers can't just take time out in school time to get 'cheaper holidays' (they have families too you know)

Tbh, really winds me up. I just wish parents would be honest and say, We are taking this holiday now because it's cheaper. But no. You hear all sorts of crap about how it's educational blah blah blah. Really? A week splashing about in the pool whilst parents are on sun loungers is educational?

If you have to take a week, take the last week of the summer term, or the week before Christmas. But please don't take off key time.

I take mine out for ten days every single year and they are in the top 1% of the country for their school testing. The teachers are fine with it too, no extra work for them, and no stupid fines either.

It's only in the UK people make such an unholy deal about it all,

You do understand the teacher is employed to teach and the parents of those children, and all tax payers pay the teachers salary?

Wow how goady can you get.

Maybe I should try that line on the GP when I can't get an appointment 'you do know I pay your wages' Or let's try it on the police, or hospitals or fire service.

I've taken all mine out, every year for one or two weeks since the eldest started school 25 years ago. I take my youngest out for a week every year now. It's made not a jot of difference as far as I can tell. I don't take them when there are tests or exams, I don't expect the teachers to supply work and I've never known any of them struggle to catch up what they have missed. They are all high achievers and rarely miss a day because of illness so attendance is never below 95% anyway. We have certain circumstances that mean all holidays have been authorised so far anyway but would go even if they weren't.

Dear Parents,

As it is ok to now have term time holidays I've decided to have one too.

I'm sure you won't mind the extra hours your child will have to do after school when I get back as they will need to catch up on the lessons missed.

Yours

Bit of a knackered old teacher

PigletWasPoohsFriend I am not being goady. And I have no idea what your post about police etc means.

Up until a few years ago it was fine to take our kids out of school for a holiday now not! What's that about!

Teachers are employed to teach kids. What that to do with the police I have no idea.

I thought it was ok now to take them away in term time?

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3588393/High-Court-rule-father-fined-120-taking-seven-year-old-daughter-Disney-World-term-time-landmark-school-holiday-case.html

Interestingly in DS's private school, very few DCs if any take term time holidays. I guess we can afford holidays which is a fair point, but also I think because we pay for the education it is more valued

What bolleaux. Until recently I was a teacher in a private school and I can assure you term time holidays were fairly common. And because he parents were paying for the education I'd be expected to provide work for them to take, which they'd invariably never do.

And it's pretty goady and snobbish of you to say that fee paying parents value education more. I had many parents who never supported their children's learning: never read with their DC or made them do their homework. They thought opening their wallets was enough.
On the other hand, there are many state school parents who support their children's learning - and the school generally - and who don't take term time holidays.

I don't see the problem at all as long as it isn't during a crucial time in the term and excessive time isn't taken off.

I think a system where an agreed maximum number of approved absence days can be taken in the school year would work. (Perhaps 5-10 days across the entire school year, 1 long or 2 short holidays?) But work must be caught up in the children's own time.

Perhaps say GCSE years 10 and 11 are not allowed any approved time off atall, and other year groups can't take time off if a class teacher deems it too problematic to miss a requested period of time.

Parents can't always get annual leave in school holidays, often too many staff wanting the same period of time. Mum and Dad might not be able to get the same period of leave approved at their individual places of work. Sometimes siblings at different schools might not have the same week or fortnight off.

Life outside of school is equally as important IMO, down time, family time, holidays, bonding with parents and siblings. Seeing the world. I think it's really shit that it's come to such a strict system and fining parents for taking their own children on holiday. A little bit of flexibility wouldn't go a miss, not allowing parents to take the piss but a bit of wiggle room if school holiday time proves impossible to arrange.

mumsneedwine I wonder, as a teacher who feels knackered, if you could say honestly what causes you the most difficulties, and what you think causes children the most difficulties?

EG

Kids who have a week out of school, or two?
Disruptive children who tie up your time?
Dyslexic pupils or other SEN pupils totally disengaged from school and not catered for?
Seriously problematic children who possibly should not be in main stream schools due to the amount of disruption they bring?
Bullying and the way it destroys self esteam and how some schools fail to tackle it effectively?

My apologies if your school has none of these issues but I am pretty sure all are represented in my son's primary school and possibly my dd's secondary school too.

You see for me, as a parent of a child with dyslexia, who (as far as I can remember) never took either child out of school for a holiday) there are far bigger issues with education than this issue.

This issue affects teachers, all these other issues are affecting both teachers and children/parents and can massively affect individual children in a way a one or two week holiday never could!

If you'd sign it, do it:

"I, the undersigned, authorise my child to be absent from school from X to Y dates.

I accept that this may be detrimental to my child's school education and progress, and that my child's assessments/examinations may reflect this.

I take full responsibility for producing resources my child may need to catch up/my child missing curriculum content [delete as appropriate]."

Teachers are employed to teach kids. What that to do with the police I have no idea.

Your remark was that teachers are paid by parents to teach. My point is that there are there public services that are to.

As someone who has had parents scream (and yes screamed) that in their face on more than one occassion when they have been called to school and heard something about their DC that they don't like, I just think it is a silly remark.

We could never afford holidays, term time or otherwise, but I missed nearly the whole of Year 9 through being in hospital. There was supposed to be a school of sorts on the children's ward, but it turned out to be two hours a day of playing Zoombinis on a PC (I still love Zoombinis). Made no difference whatsoever to my education - when I returned I sat my SATs and got three level 6s - but I was already about a year ahead of most of my peers. There were others in my school that barely kept up, and all those months out would've ruined their chances of getting any GCSEs at all.

Depends on the child.

PigletWasPoohsFriend ah ha, are you saying I think I should have the right to tell the police how to do their job, or doctors or anyone because as a tax payer I am paying their wages? NO of course I do not think that.

I think depriving the teacher of my little darlings for a week or two, (which I have never done) is my right and to expect the teacher to be able to cope doesn't seem unreasonable. I've never done it because I do value their education we have always managed to have a holiday inside school holidays. I would love to visit family overseas and I wonder if the only way we may be able to do it is to take some time out of school.

This holiday would be very educational for my kids, it would not be sun loungers etc. But even if it were, as a parent I should be able to make that choice.

P.S. No, I didn't do any catch up or take up any teacher time when I returned.